Mismatched Compatibility (11)

WARNING: A lotta swear words. You guessed right, peeps. It's Ethan's POV time~!

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Ethan:

"You're starting to like her."

I instantly stopped drinking to frown at Luke. "What?"

"You heard me," he smiled.

"Bet your ass I did," I said incredulously. "What the f*ck, man?"

Seriously, what the f*ck? How could he assume that I was beginning to like that spoiled rich kid? Yeah, she was hot. But she was too chaotic for me. There was too much angst. It was as if she swore herself against guys.

Although, I couldn't deny that there were moments - like in the kitchen at home. It was like I was seeing a different side of her, a side that I liked. And damn, if I didn't get a hard on every time I laid my eyes on her.

Luke burst out laughing. "Geez, Ethan. No need to get so worked up about it. It's just an observation."

"No, it's an assumption. A wrong one," I added, putting the bottle to my lips.

"Is it?"

I finished the bottle of beer before facing him. He had an eyebrow raised at me. He was serious about this so-called observation of his. That much I could see in his eyes.

Shit. I hated having smart friends.

"Dude, do I look like someone who'll go for her type?" I snorted.

"Yeah," he answered, without missing a beat.

I frowned. "Well, I won't." Before Luke could say anything, I leaned away from the counter. "F*ck this, I'm getting laid." With that, I left the kitchen and went off to find someone I could bang.

It didn't take me long. When I entered the living room, I immediately spotted Trixie by the fireplace. I came up behind her and leaned my lips to her right ear.

"Hey, don't I know you?" I wondered in a low voice.

She smiled.

"Yeah, you're the girl with the pretty smile."

That made her giggle, causing me to smile triumphantly. Some girls were just so easy to fool. She turned around and faced me. I usually went for blondes, but Trixie was a brunette exception. She did this thing with her tongue that did wonders with my soldier. Plus, she wasn't bad to look at. To add more, she got a nice pair of hooters.

I could even feel my soldier twitching in anticipation.

"Long time no see, Ethan," she purred, leaning her body closer while her hands made their way up to my chest.

See? Easy.

In a matter of seconds, we were dancing along the beat of the music. Our bodies were so close that we were practically doing it on the dance floor. We might not be kissing, but our touches were obviously making us both extremely hot.

Girls like this made life easier for me. I mean, I shouldn't have to work hard for a girl. As a matter of fact, I didn't want to. That was too much waste of a time. Girls like Trixie was familiar to me. It was sort of my comfort zone.

This was my life.

As my hand made its way down Trixie's curves, I heard an all-too-familiar voice that made me look up.

"You're sickening!"

I looked around the living room. I knew that Prima Donna's voice anywhere. I didn't even realize that I stopped dancing and touching Trixie until I felt her tug my shirt. But at that moment, I saw Daniella pulled against the wall by some shithead.

I didn't think. My body just took over. I never thought that shit was real, but it was. I left Trixie on the dance floor and walked over to Daniella, my mind wondering faintly where the hell Nigel was.

"I wanna put my thingy into your thingy," I heard the shithead slur the words when I neared.

I scowled. What the f*ck?

Daniella was trying to push the dirtbag away, but it looked like he had a death grip on her. I wasn't sure why, my blood simply boiled at that sight. Good thing the alcohol in me helped my nerves to calm down a bit.

I grabbed the shithead by his shirt and forced him away in one easy pull. While he staggered, I positioned myself between him and Daniella. The dude managed to straighten himself up even though his eyes were unfocused.

Drunk bastard.

"Ethan, man," he slurred. "I just wanna get laid."

I'm used to people knowing who I am. But I don't know who the fuck he is.

"Get laid somewhere else," I told him in a flat tone.

The shithead pointed at Daniella behind me. "I want her." He didn't even bother hiding the hunger in his eyes when he looked at her. "Those tits."

I let out a humorless laugh. This punk was seriously pissing me off.

"Right. F*ck off before I break the windows using your f*cking face."

He flinched.

On normal circumstances, he would've stepped away almost instantly. But since his ass was drunk as hell, he had the nerve to still act brave around me.

"C'mon, man. Don't you wanna tap that?"

I stepped closer. God, I wanted to beat the fucking shit out of this dirtbag.

So I went for it.

"Hold up!" Nigel suddenly piped in, stopping me from getting my second hit.

I was about to drag the shithead to the windows, too. Straightening up, I noticed that we had an audience already. Nigel put a hand on my chest, preventing me from doing more.

"My house - my windows - my repairs."

I turned to him. "And I give a f*ck because . . . ?"

"I know you don't," replied Nigel a-matter-of-factly. "That's why, you," he added to the shithead on the floor. "Out. Now." He raised a hand in a gesture and a couple more guys helped him get the bastard out of the house.

I took a deep breath. The crowd was still gathered around, so I grabbed the opportunity and announced, "Listen up! See this girl?" I pulled Daniella beside me so they could all see. "Don't touch her."

There was silence.

"She hits balls hard," I added comically, causing laughter to erupt. I grinned for a moment, before turning stern again. "I'm serious, though. Do not f*cking touch her."

I looked everyone in the eye to make sure they got the message. When I was satisfied, I reached for Daniella's hand and dragged her with me to the kitchen. I sighed when we entered and saw that my group of people were still the only ones there. They paid us no mind, which was fine by me.

"You okay?" I asked Daniella.

She didn't answer immediately. She only stared at me as if she was trying to figure me out. I could swear that there was a hint of awe there.

Oh, right. She just saw me almost beat the shit out of someone.

"Are you some kind of 'king' around here?" she wondered.

I smiled smugly, my stiff posture relaxing. "Legend, more like."

She rolled her eyes.

"You asked," I shrugged.

We didn't speak for a minute. I let her be quiet for a while because it wasn't all the time that I get her to shut up.

"Thank you," she murmured.

Huh. She seemed to have been thanking me a lot recently.

"Why didn't you kick his balls?" I couldn't help but ask. I was curious. I mean, it wasn't fair. She didn't think twice before she injured that precious part of my bod - and that shithead was way worse than me.

She crossed her arms and sighed, "He trapped me before I had the chance."

My grip involuntarily hardened on the bottle of beer that I was holding. I wanted to hunt down that fucker right now. But I stopped myself.

Why do I care? I'm not her f*cking boyfriend. We're not even friends. Why am I acting so damn protective over her? This shit is screwed up. I'm not anyone's knight in shining armor.

I looked at her.

But despite her reserved self that she put up for everyone, I had the chance to see her vulnerable side every now and then. Maybe that was it. I knew that this world - my world was so different compared to hers. And that made me a little protective, because I knew the feeling.

I knew what it felt like to be brought into a world that I wasn't familiar with - a world that I wasn't used to. I remembered how horrible the feeling was. My self-esteem was going in the dumps and I had no one to help me. I managed, though.

Now here I am, good as awesome.

I guess I just don't want her to feel lost, like I did.

. . .

F*ck. How dramatic.

I shook my head to rid of those cheesy as shit thoughts. Walking toward the guys in the middle of the kitchen, I suggested for us to play 'Never Have I Ever.' They instantly agreed. The girls decided to play, too.

I glanced at Daniella. "You playing or what, princess?"

She blinked, like she didn't expect me to invite her to join us. She rapidly composed her expression and went to stand beside Dakota. They seemed to be getting close. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

"Do you know the game?" I asked Daniella.

She frowned at me. "Of course."

She mentioned that she used to attend frat parties, so no doubt she must have played this game before. Weird, though. If she was exposed to that kind of life, why did all this seemed so new to her? Then again, it depended on the people she was with.

"I'll start," volunteered Aaron, briefly raising his hand. "Never have I ever . . ." His eyes wandered thoughtfully to me, then he grinned. "Never have I ever totaled my dad's car."

I shook my head as I laughed. I heard Luke chuckle. Grinning, I raised the glass of beer to my lips and took a shot. They whooped, laughing their asses off.

"Alright, shut up," I told them, but laughing along with them all the same.

Sam nodded to me. "Your turn, E.T.!"

I looked around, thinking of what to say, when my eyes landed on Daniella. An idea popped in my mind. I smiled crookedly.

"Never have I ever," I began, looking straight at her, "initiated a kiss from a random stranger in an airport."

Daniella froze. Her eyes widened as she stared at me. Almost all the heads in the room turned to her, except for Sam who didn't know anything. I could even see her reddened cheeks from across the table.

Honestly, I thought she'd look down and shyly take a shot or something. But instead, she collected herself and kept her chin up as if I just dared her to do something - which I technically did. Then, she took her glass and drank.

Sam whistled. I caught Dakota glare at me (like I'd care).

"Dana's turn!" beamed Alyson.

Daniella bit her lip. "Never have I ever . . . drank too much that I passed out?"

I looked at Sam, chuckling. He grinned as he took a shot.

I remembered that time in high school, sophomore year. He literally passed out on my lawn. Aaron, Luke, Nigel and I had to drag him together inside just so the neighbors wouldn't think he was dead or something.

"Okay," Sam said, raising both of his hands. An evil smile stretched across his face. "Never have I ever . . . left a girl hanging." With that, he pointed at me.

I gave him an incredulous look. "Yeah, right."

I admit that I may be a jerk half the time - fine, most of the time - but it's part of my reputation that I never leave a girl unsatisfied. Never.

"Damn right I am," snickered Sam. "I just got a text from Sue saying that Trixie's all hot and bothered because of you."

Shoot. I forgot I left her on the dance floor.

I quickly finished my shot and walked over to Sam.

"Keep an eye on her," I told him under my breath so only the guys could hear, nodding towards Daniella.

I saw Aaron and Luke exchange meaningful glances. I ignored them and waited for Sam's reply. He frowned and gave me a weird look. He was studying me.

"Is there something you ain't telling me, man?" asked Sam.

"No."

After a moment, he raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

"Okay, sure."

Saluting to the rest of them, I made my way out of the kitchen to find Trixie and get this over with. It was getting late, and the people were getting hornier by the minute. I spotted her by the stairs, talking with her peeps. Before I could walk closer, Nigel blocked my way.

"About earlier," he started. "I left Dana for a second to get some drinks. That moron came out of nowhere."

"You kicked out the f*cktard?" I asked.

"Yeah," he snorted. "Piece o' cake."

I nodded. "We're cool."

Nigel sighed. "Seriously, Ethan. What's up with this chick?"

"Why are you guys up my ass about this?" I said exasperatedly, rubbing a hand on my face.

Luke, Aaron, Sam, and now Nigel. I've only known Daniella for two days and already the guys were interrogating me. We weren't even dating. Geez.

"I knew I wasn't the only one who noticed," murmured Nigel triumphantly.

"What?"

"You're acting all weird and shit."

I had enough of this. My head was spinning already from talking about this nonsense. I needed to get away. But then, I heard another voice from behind me.

"Nigel's right, you know."

My shoulders slumped. Damn. I'm not getting out of this easily, aren't I? Sighing, I turned around and faced Aaron.

"Don't be dense like I was." Aaron grinned. "Been there, done that."

"Ah," I said lightly, cocking my head. "But see, I know women."

"Yeah, you do. But you're not good at reading yourself."

"Why would I do that? Reading's a waste of time. Just watch and learn."

Aaron shook his head as he smiled. "Same old Ethan. Man, I missed you."

"Ew," I grimaced. "Don't get all sappy just because you're getting married."

"I think you're sober already," he laughed, patting me on the shoulder. "You need more beer."

"Comin' right up!" exclaimed Nigel, passing us by to get more drinks.

Crap. Now I'm left with Aaron. No doubt he's gonna force me into telling him stuff that I sure as heck don't want to talk about right now.

Hell, I don't even want to think about it.

I better get away now.

"Dude, I wanna get some tonight," I made up. It was half the truth, anyway. He didn't need to know that the source of my boner was the very person he wanted to talk to me about. "Talk to you later," I added, quickly turning around towards the stairs.

"Having a quickie isn't going to solve your problem."

I halted. I took a deep breath, before facing him.

"I don't have a problem," I said a-matter-of-factly. "You have a problem with my problem thinking I have a problem which in itself is a problem."

As I expected, Aaron's expression were a mixed of amusement and exasperation. He looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or to be annoyed.

I smirked. Making people feel that way was one of my many talents.

"All right, fine," shrugged Aaron. "I won't push it. You wanna avoid the fact that you finally found your match that you also seriously like, it's your choice."

"Dana isn't my match," I said quickly, bemused at the thought.

Aaron smirked. "So you're thinking it."

My jaw dropped. "No, I'm not."

"You said her name, though."

"You're started it," I accused.

"No," he said slowly, shaking his head. "I didn't say who. You were the one who dropped a name."

I didn't reply. He was right. Damn, I've been tricked.

See what I'm talking about? Having smart friends sucks.

I was scowling at a smug Aaron when Nigel came back with my beer. I snatched the bottle from him and quickly took a swig. In a matter of seconds, I drank the whole thing. That wasn't new to me, or to them.

I handed the empty bottle back to Nigel. He was looking at me warily, as if I'd lose it any minute now. I couldn't really blame him. I was pretty pissed right now. I just realized something that might end the kind of life I loved living at this age.

"Shit," I hissed, squeezing my eyes shut. When I opened them, I looked at Aaron with accusing eyes. This was his fault. "F*ck you."

As soon as I said the last word, I turned my back to them.

"No, thanks," called out Aaron. I could clearly hear the amusement in his voice. "I'm sure you'd rather do that with your 'match.'"

Without looking at him, I flipped him the finger.

At that, he burst out laughing.

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Anyhoo, is the story going too fast? They only have 5 days, after all. Haha. :)